At the end of 2014, and after Thirty-Four years in the role, Steve Hilditch MBE (1952-2015) stood down as Team Leader of Derby Mountain Rescue Team. At the time the team was also celebrating it's 50th anniversary having formed following the tragic loss of three Rover Scouts during the 4 Inns walk in March 1964.Steve was recognised for his commitment to Mountain Rescue and Scouting with an MBE in the Queen's Birthday honours in March 2015. He was also awarded the Silver Wolf medal by the Scout association; a most prestigious award, bestowed only upon a select few.

As a sign of respect, and in appreciation of Steve's hard work and dedication over the years of his involvement, the team arranged several surprises, including long service awards and a Royal Crown Derby Commemorative plate. They also wanted to create the "Steve Hilditch Trophy" to be awarded to team members who show exceptional commitment to the team and epitomise the ethos of Mountain Rescue. Martyn Turner, a former operational team member had seen ASDA's "3DME" project which allows anyone to have a miniature figurine of themselves made using the latest in 3D printing technology. The customer stands in a futuristic scanning pod and in only twelve seconds up to one thousand five hundred images are captured and stitched together electronically. The images are sent off for printing and the ceramic figurine is available for collection within twenty-one days. This seemed ideal for making a trophy in Steve's honour, however, the intended figure was the team's giant statue "Peat Grough" who stands impressively at over nine feet tall and weighs over 150kg. Clearly a plan was needed. The team contacted ASDA for help.

Tommy Hornby, ASDA's Photo processing and 3D operations manager, thought that it might be possible to create the required images using a handheld version of the scanner. In secret a few of the team, joined by Tommy, erected a scaffolding system next to the giant and Tommy spent an afternoon attempting to capture the likeness of the Giant. It was a challenging task, not only because of the size of the Giant, but also it's high gloss finish was causing unwanted reflections for the scanner. Tommy returned to his office with the scans and his team spent a further day stitching the images together on the computer and correcting any anomalies. The result was unbelievable: a seven-inch miniature 3D representation of a nine-foot statue, complete with rope and climbing gear.

The team had two statues made, one for Steve and his wife Kim to take home to keep and one for the team to present as an award. Both statues were mounted on wooden plinths made by Martyn's father and were presented to Steve and the team in 2015.Sadly, Steve lost his battle with Cancer later that year, but before his death he had nominated the first recipient of this new award.

At the AGM this March the team welcomed Kim Hilditch who revealed the first recipient of the trophy, presenting it to Team Chairman Nic Berry for his outstanding commitment to the Team.

Everyone at Derby Mountain Rescue Team would like to thank Tommy Hornby, his team and ASDA for their generosity and support.

Derby Mountain Rescue Team is an entirely voluntary emergency service providing Search and Rescue in the south of the Peak District and surrounding areas.

You can support Derby Mountain Rescue Team by donating £5/10/20 by texting e.g. "DMRT22 £20" to 70070

You can also find out more about the team and how you can get involved: